Sage

A sophisticated presentation that is ideal for a holiday feast.

Serve this warm or at room temperature.

Pureed squash adds wonderful color.

This moist spoon bread (a pudding-like bread made with cornmeal) tastes best warm.

For a savory addition, toss a little sautéed pancetta or bacon into this pasta.

Western ingredients are particularly well suited to the Thanksgiving feast, as evidenced by this robust, satisfying gravy. It comes from Montana-based Greg Patent, the author of New Cooking from the Old West (Ten Speed Press, 1996), and it has an appealing home-on-the-range quality, thanks to plenty of fresh sage and the smoky taste of bacon. It's rich, delicious and perfect for smothering turkey and potatoes. Follow these directions to make a foolproof gravy no matter what recipe you use for roasting the turkey. Since the broth and giblets can be prepared one day ahead, the last-minute steps are kept to a minimum.

Put the dressing in the oven as soon as the turkey comes out to rest before it's carved.

Garnish the turkey with bunches of fresh thyme, sage and parsley.

We make this rich, intensely flavored stock for our mushroom soups, sauces, and ragouts. The dried shiitake mushrooms give the stock depth and tremendous flavor. They're readily available in the Asian section of most grocery stores, but if you can't find them, substitute another variety of dried mushrooms — fresh mushrooms alone will make a weak stock. This stock freezes well.

If you're preparing this dish as a part of your Thanksgiving meal, put this gratin in the oven once the turkey comes out.

"The day before Thanksgiving, my grandmother would make trays of corn bread for this stuffing," says food writer Janet Fletcher. "We grandkids would crack the pecans for the stuffing; the nuts came from the trees in her back yard."

Not your typical corn bread dressing, this one from Michael McLaughlin features smoky ham and sautéed fennel.